Highest to Lowest - Occupancy level (based on official capacity)

Donate to WPB

Please use drop down menu 1 to choose the category of data you wish to view, and press 'Go' to load category page. Once the page has reloaded please choose the continent/region from drop down menu 2 and then press 'Apply'.

Data shown in the highest to lowest lists are the most recent available but not necessarily from the same date. Please click on each individual country to see the date to which the data refer. As it is not possible to obtain meaningful comparative data on numbers of children in custody in different countries, we do not include juvenile imprisonment data in the highest to lowest lists.

Ranking Title Occupancy Level (%)
  Ecuador 123.6
  Isle of Man (United Kingdom) 95.8
  Paraguay 182.8
  Romania 117.3
  Thailand 111.7
  Portugal 98.3
  Albania 90.5
  Belgium 114.1
  Poland 84.6
  Norway 77.0
  Georgia 70.6
  Czech Republic 98.0
  Taiwan 96.3
  Japan 47.3
  Estonia 56.2
  Turkey 132.9
  United Kingdom: Scotland 100.9
  Slovenia 130.3
  Mexico 106.8
  Colombia 127.5
  Nigeria 136.7
  Indonesia 187.3
  Martinique (France) 137.4
  French Guiana/Guyane (France) 169.6
  Reunion (France) 129.9
  United Kingdom: Northern Ireland 86.2
  United Kingdom: England & Wales 110.3
  Slovakia 71.6
  Italy 121.4
  Ireland, Republic of 114.2
  Guernsey (United Kingdom) 71.2
  France 131.7
  Austria 115.0
  Sri Lanka 215.6
  Dominican Republic 156.8
  Mauritius 116.9
  Ghana 135.5
  New Caledonia (France) 154.6
  Guadeloupe (France) 153.2
  Mayotte (France) 238.5
  Dominica 73.0
  Angola 106.7
  Sao Tome e Principe 333.3
  Vanuatu 106.7
  South Africa 148.5
  Rwanda 140.7
  Niger 97.4
  Jersey (United Kingdom) 69.0
  Argentina 120.5
  New Zealand 93.8
  Cape Verde (Cabo Verde) 109.4
  Bangladesh 125.5
  Seychelles 53.8
  Macau (China) 82.8
  Uganda 367.2
  Tajikistan 61.5
  Kazakhstan 62.4
  Guam (USA) 147.6
  Brazil 135.8
  Yemen
  Uruguay 130.1
  Croatia 109.1
  Andorra 34.5
  Ukraine 55.9
  North Macedonia 99.3
  Liechtenstein 70.0
  Iceland 87.5
  Bulgaria 68.7
  Spain 74.1
  Morocco 158.8
  Gabon
  Bahamas 161.7
  Sweden 110.7
  Germany 80.1
  Denmark 99.4
  Virgin Islands (USA) 74.1
  Central African Republic 190.5
  Azerbaijan 96.2
  Palau 132.8
  Fiji 103.5
  Suriname 102.0
  Cook Islands (New Zealand) 50.0
  Guinea (Republic of) 171.4
  Chad 133.4
  Luxembourg 60.3
  Latvia 67.8
  Armenia 55.0
  Northern Mariana Islands (USA) 47.8
  Netherlands 78.0
  Serbia 90.2
  Switzerland 94.9
  Panama 166.7
  Hong Kong (China) 74.0
  Chile 91.3
  Australia 112.2
  United States of America 86.1
  Somalia (Federal Republic of)
  Kuwait 126.2
  Belize 67.0
  El Salvador 162.8
  San Marino 50.0
  Montenegro 78.5
  Monaco 34.8
  French Polynesia (France) 102.7
  Canada 102.2
  Hungary 101.5
  Papua New Guinea 116.5
  Nauru 14.0
  Tonga 81.5
  Lithuania 68.4
  Solomon Islands 77.7
  Malaysia 106.0
  Peru 238.1
  Cayman Islands (United Kingdom) 122.8
  Costa Rica 120.4
  Singapore 79.2
  Benin 279.5
  Greenland (Denmark) 100.7
  Faeroe Islands (Denmark) 100.0
  Cambodia 409.1
  Honduras 150.0
  St. Vincent and the Grenadines 79.8
  Barbados 61.5
  Zimbabwe 130.1
  Zambia 265.0
  Mozambique 247.9
  Cote d'Ivoire 297.1
  Cameroon 164.3
  Pakistan 163.1
  Malta 91.5
  Greece 95.2
  Cyprus (Republic of) 155.8
  Bosnia and Herzegovina: Federation 82.6
  Burundi 321.9
  Puerto Rico (USA) 55.9
  Sierra Leone 178.5
  Lebanon 194.4
  Grenada 194.4
  Madagascar 277.5
  Haiti 302.0
  Philippines 362.0
  Guyana 151.0
  Kenya 176.5
  India 131.4
  Vietnam
  Jordan 150.6
  Kosovo/Kosova 97.1
  Libya 141.6
  Comoros 161.7
  Guatemala 299.4
  Nepal 153.7
  Senegal 129.7
  Bolivia 274.1
  Mali 223.3
  Bosnia and Herzegovina: Republika Srpska 39.7
  Finland 97.2
  Democratic Republic of Congo 322.8
  Israel 136.2
  Moldova (Republic of) 86.0
  Qatar
  Uzbekistan 80.0
  South Sudan
  Liberia 222.1
  Cuba
  Egypt 207.3
  Republic of (South) Korea 118.2
  Kyrgyzstan 61.7
  St. Lucia 102.8
  Aruba (Netherlands) 68.4
  Antigua and Barbuda 266.7
  Afghanistan 179.9
  Burkina Faso 168.3
  Anguilla (United Kingdom) 91.7
  Virgin Islands (United Kingdom) 81.4
  Trinidad and Tobago 81.8
  St. Kitts and Nevis 144.0
  Jamaica 87.0
  Tanzania 109.0
  Mauritania 101.8
  Eswatini/Swaziland 120.0
  Botswana 86.0
  Russian Federation 67.0
  Gambia 172.5
  Samoa 121.2
  Maldives 125.0
  Curaçao (Netherlands) 63.9
  Timor-Leste (formerly East Timor) 173.4
  American Samoa (USA) 166.2
  Iraq 139.2
  Mongolia 124.4
  Venezuela 163.8
  Equatorial Guinea
  Togo 183.5
  Algeria 119.0
  Malawi 236.2
  Namibia 75.4
  Laos
  Lesotho 70.6
  Myanmar (formerly Burma) 111.5
  Tunisia 126.4
  Guinea Bissau 102.2
  Gibraltar (United Kingdom) 93.9
  Turkmenistan 85.0
  China
  Sint Maarten (Netherlands) 96.3
  Bermuda (United Kingdom) 59.7
  Djibouti 171.4
  Saudi Arabia
  Congo (Republic of) 616.9
  Brunei Darussalam 143.8
  Iran 153.0
  Belarus 83.4
  Marshall Islands 97.2
  Nicaragua 177.6
  Bahrain 110.2
  Sudan 255.3
  Ethiopia
  Eritrea
  Kiribati 112.8
  Democratic People's Republic of (North) Korea
  Oman
  Tuvalu
  Micronesia, Federated States of 88.0
  Bhutan
  United Arab Emirates 158.9
  Syria 65.6